


Alien Conspiracies And A Happy New Year

by isxbella



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Multi, allusions to unrequited (past) donna/jack because i can, mentions of inexistent ten/rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27230440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isxbella/pseuds/isxbella
Summary: Jack joined alien conspiracy club to boost his credits, not to fall for the Doctor. Fortunately, his friends are here to help. (Even if Gwen’s methods can be violent.)
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Martha Jones/Mickey Smith, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato, Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Comments: 8
Kudos: 23





	Alien Conspiracies And A Happy New Year

When Jack decided to join the alien conspiracy club to boost his term credits, Gwen called him mad. Tosh suggested he joined the robotics club with her, Owen saw it as an excuse to hit him and Ianto pointed out that the five of them (not counting Rhys) were already the only members of the university’s archery club. 

Jack loved his friends, and he loved the hours they spent eating pizza and gossiping instead of doing archery, but the fact remained that he needed to attend another extra-curricular to pass this term. After his hungover performance in all his exams last term, every credit counted if he ever wanted to graduate. 

So, he ended up in the campus’ old bomb shelter bunker after class on Friday instead of preparing for a night out with Owen in their dorm room. He descended the last steps with a half-grin, finding himself in a spacious and dimly-lit room with a table in the middle and a fridge containing snacks against the far wall. 

Around the table were the existing members of the club, some sitting and some standing. Jack recognised Martha, the pretty medical student with a big heart. He also knew Donna, the redhead had followed him around last year and he was pretty sure she still harboured a crush. 

The others were new faces. There was a girl with blonde braids and a wide grin, a dark-skinned boy with a scowl etched on his face and an irritated boy with his hands in the pockets on his trench coat- eyebrow raised. 

“Hello! I’m Rose Tyler,” the blonde giggled, standing and taking his hand. 

“Jack Harkness,” Jack grinned back, receiving the usual flustered expression as they shook hands. He could feel her eyes still on him as he approached the boy in the trench coat. 

“Jack-“ 

He folded his arms, ignoring Jack's outstretched hand. “You’re late.”

Rose sighed behind Jack. “Be nice, Doctor.”

“I am being nice,” the Doctor insisted, eyes not leaving Jack as he checked him out. “But we’re here to discuss life on Mars, not flirt.”

“He wasn’t really flirting, he just introduced himself,” Martha interjected, but subdued under the Doctor’s glare. She rolled her eyes at the other boy, who Jack later found out was her boyfriend Mickey. 

The Doctor spread out a map on the table. “So, Jack Harkness, where do you stand on aliens inhabiting Mars?”

It was a clear challenge. Jack didn’t flinch. “More likely than not.”

—

“It’s hopeless,” Jack complained, pacing around Gwen and Tosh’s dorm. Gwen and Rhys were sitting on Gwen’s bed, and Tosh was on the floor. They were eating Chinese takeout. 

“Calm down,” Gwen insisted, mouth half-full. “You’ve only known the guy for three months, and all you two do is argue.”

Jack let out a frustrated groan. “And yet I’m hopelessly pining after him while he flirts with Rose.”

Tosh's computer chimed, and she turned to look at it. “I found his Twitter!”

Rhys shook his head. “What makes this guy so special? He isn’t even that good-looking!”

Gwen elbowed her boyfriend and Jack glared at him. Rhys shrugged in surrender.

“Do you care what I found or not?” Tosh asked sternly, and all three nodded- although Rhys did it reluctantly. “His real name is John Smith, but everyone calls him the Doctor. He’s single, constantly sharing his theories about alien life and when he’s drunk he writes poetry.”

“You’re kidding,” Gwen said, leaning over to peer over the screen. “I would’ve never pegged him as a poet, drunk or not.”

Rhys grunted. “I suppose we made too many assumptions from his physics major.”

Tosh tilted her head. “He sort of dresses like a poet, if you think about it.”

They sat in silence for a moment, eating their food with consideration and Jack groaned. “I’m glad my love life is so amusing.”

With a sigh, Gwen gestured for him to sit down on Tosh’s bed. He did and she smiled at him. “It will all work out, Jack. It always does.”

—

“You have no evidence,” the Doctor said poutily, munching on his Doritos.

Jack’s eyes didn’t move from the Doctor’s. The Doctor has brown eyes like melted pools of chocolate. “You have no evidence that the greek gods were based off alien encounters, so I don’t see why I need evidence that they’re not.”

Martha coughed. Both the Doctor and Jack remained unfazed. “As interesting as this debate is, I have a train home to catch and we’ve deviated from the original topic of Christmas aliens. Meeting adjourned, and merry Christmas if I don’t see you before then.”

Martha and Mickey left with Donna, Mickey nervous about meeting Martha’s parents over the winter break. Donna was to be spending the festive season with her grandfather. 

Rose sighed, winding her stripy scarf around her neck. “See you at New Year’s, Jack. Don’t do anything to get yourself or Owen in prison before then.”

Jack laughed and stood, hugging Rose. He’d introduced her to his social group a while back, and Gwen had told her all the group’s scandalous stories. “Wouldn’t dream of it after all the effort you’ve put into planning the New Year’s party.” 

She laughed and turned to the Doctor. “You! Don’t kill yourself without me, alright? I have enough to worry about without getting a call that you’ve blown something up.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes, but stood up and hugged Rose as Jack had. “I’ll be fine. Thanks to that conversation you had with him, Rory made me watch as he put up the Christmas tree in our dorm.”

They laughed and separated, Rose kissing his cheek before making her exit. 

“Let’s go,” the Doctor announced, standing up and ruffling his messy hair. Jack must’ve looked hesitant, as he added, “Sorry, I’m making assumptions. Do you have plans?”

Jack shook his head, standing and pulling on his jacket. “No, my dormmate Owen has convinced his girlfriend- Tosh- to go exploring with him in Peru.”

“And the others? The raven-haired girl and quiet boy?”

Jack chuckled. “Ianto’s staying with his sister, and Gwen’s got Rhys. If I don’t leave the dorm in a few days, she’ll come round with takeout but she has family in the next town to visit.”

The Doctor nodded. “So you haven’t got anyone?”

The steps end and they’re exposed to the full winter, snow falling weakly onto them from above. Jack hesitated before answering, his tone darkening. “No, my father and brother are dead. Car crash. I don’t speak to my mother. She blames me.”

It’s too personal too fast, except for the fact they’d both been watching the other from afar for months. Jack watched the Doctor carefully. 

The Doctor sucked in a breath. “I lost my parents when I was twelve. The firefighters always prioritise the children.” He looked straight into Jack’s eyes. “I know how it feels to be the lone survivor.”

Jack watched the Doctor shuffle in the snow for a few minutes, eyes cold and unfocused, until he stuck his tongue out to catch a snowflake with a shiver. “Why do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you, Jack,” he said with a half-smile. “I’m not sure what I feel about you, but it’s not hate.”

“Tell me when you figure it out,” Jack sighed. The Doctor hummed in response, before walking off.

—

Jack stared at his laptop screen and the pixelated image of Tosh on it. “I don’t understand him.”

She sighs, swatting a mosquito away from her face. Only Tosh could find signal camping in the middle of nowhere. “Put a shirt on. It’s winter.”

He ignored her. He was sat on his bed wearing a faded pair of jeans and holding an open copy of an A4 brief summarising what he was meant to do for his next creative writing assignment. “What if he’s in love with Rose?”

Tosh groaned impatiently. “We ruled that one out when he asked you to be his date to her New Year’s party.”

“So maybe he’s trying to make her jealous!” Jack argued, hitting his laptop screen with his hand as he spoke. 

“Jack, stop stressing,” she insisted. “Flirting is supposedly your area of expertise, and all the signs are pointing to the fact he genuinely likes you. Now stop being an idiot and- for Christ’s sake- put on a shirt before you get hypothermia.”

“What does your boyfriend say?”

Owen appeared on camera, face pinched in irritation and sweat beads forming on his forehead. “I say stop whinging about it and sleep with him. You haven’t lost your touch, he’s clearly interested and I’m fed up of postponing my life because you’re having a crisis.”

Tosh spoke softly. “Come on, Gwen and Rhys will be there. It’ll all be fine.”

Jack huffed and disappeared off-screen to find a shirt. 

—

Rose almost crushed Jack when she hugged him. Her mother’s house was a half hour bus ride away, but significantly bigger than the dingy room she shared with her childhood friend Shireen on campus. 

Jack grinned at her, listening to her torrent of news before she pulled the Doctor into a similar bone-crushing hug. She’d regarded the fact that they’d come together like she’d been waiting for it to happen, and as she exchanged looks with Donna he wondered how many of them shared her opinion. 

But his train of thought was cut short by the Doctor grabbing his arm and yanking him into the living room. Surprisingly, Rose’s mother- Jackie- was at the centre of the dance floor and the Doctor pulled a face when he saw her. 

“What’d she ever do to you?” Jack joked, and he received a scowl for his efforts.

The Doctor helped himself to the array of snacks, speaking excitedly with his mouth full about how much he loved finger food and parties. Jack listened the best he could with a raised eyebrow, waving at Gwen in the corner who took it as her cue to grab Rhys and approach Jack.

“Hey, you,” she said playfully, giving Rhys a very pointed look as he opened his mouth to protest about being dragged across the room. “How’s your date?”

The Doctor swallowed before shaking Gwen’s hand enthusiastically. “Gwen! It’s a pleasure to see you again. Jack’s fine… I think.”

This prompted the Doctor to look worriedly at Jack, who had used the distraction to pour himself some of the punch. (Alcoholic, nudging by the smell.) After a few moments, Jack felt that he had to clarify and smiled broadly. “Fine, thanks, Gwen.”

“Now that we know you’re fine, can we-“ Rhys interjected, before being silenced by his girlfriend pinching him on the arm.

“Jack,” Gwen beamed. “A word?”

She turned her deadly grip onto Jack, dragging him away with purposeful intent. Rhys was left stranded with the Doctor, watching his girlfriend go mournfully as the Doctor began to talk animatedly with him.

Gwen manoeuvred Jack into a corner and glared at him with full force. Her Welsh accent was thick as she spoke to him in a low voice. “Why aren’t you two making out yet?”

Oh, so that was it. Jack sighed and prepared himself for her rant.

“If I have to listen to one more pitiful story in which you line over him rather than kiss him senseless, I will lose it. Jack Harkness, this is no kidding matter. You have come to this party as his date and I am not going to watch you stand there and politely smile at him all evening,” Gwen hissed. “Get over yourself. You have already lost your reputation, don’t lose your shot with him.”

“What do you want me to do? He hasn’t touched me since he came round to my dorm to pick me up, and I’m beginning to think he misunderstands the meaning of the word date.”

She stared at him very solidly. “You’re Jack bloody Harkness! If he’s misunderstanding, go and make him understand!”

There was a pause and Jack took in a deep breath. “Okay.”

With determination, he marched back over to the Doctor and Rhys. Gwen walked just a little behind, arms folded. 

“Jack, you’re back!” the Doctor grinned. “Rhys here was saying Gwen might’ve murdered you.”

“Still alive and kicking, Doc, sorry to disappoint.” 

The Doctor kept grinning. “I was thinking, for my New Year’s Resolution-“

Before his courage could dissipate, Jack shut the Doctor up with a kiss. Into it, he put all of his turmoil from the past months and was surprised when the Doctor responded with equal force. 

Rhys let out a groan of disgust and exasperation, and although Jack heard Gwen hit him, he found he didn’t care- although, eventually, he had to pull back for oxygen. His nose bumped the Doctor’s, but the man himself was not even flushed, although his hair was even more messy than usual since one of Jack’s hands had found its way into it. 

The Doctor grinned again, this time lopsided. “That was nice.”

“Nice?” Jack said, confidence creeping into his tone. “I think we can do better than nice.”

Gwen coughed. Breaking his gaze from the Doctor, Jack eyed the gathering crowd with hostility. 

“Well,” Rose said. Fireworks went off in the background, but she didn’t seem at all concerned to have missed the clock striking the new year. “Let’s cash in the bets then.”

Jack and the Doctor watched with twin expressions of befuddlement as their friends began to trade coins and notes. Gwen’s phone rang, and everyone helped to tell Tosh the story- Rhys with the biggest grin, having won twenty bucks off Owen. 

“I never got to tell you my New Year’s resolution,” the Doctor said. 

Jack disentangled his left hand from the man’s hair with zero sense of embarrassment. “Yeah?”

The Doctor’s eyes lit up as if he was about to announce that aliens had been sighted on Venus. “This year, I’m going to take you out on a proper date.”

That, Jack decided, deserved another kiss. 


End file.
